Golf-club.



PATENTED MAR. 24, 1903.

A. F. KNIGHT.

GOLF CLUB.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 26. 1902.

H0 MODEL.

Wibnasses;

UNITED STATES PATENT 0am,

ARTHUR F. KNIGHT, OF SCIIENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- EIGIITII TO ROBERT II. READ, OF SCIIENECTADY, NEWV YORK.

GOLF-CLUB.

vSPEGIFICATIOltl' forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 723,534, dated.- March 24, 1903.

' Application filed Augnst26,1902. Serial No. 121,113. (No model.)

To all whmn it may cmmflrn:

Be it known that I. ARTHUR F. KNIGHT, a

citizen of the United States,-residing at Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Golf-Clubs, of which the. following is a specification.

This inventionrelates to playing-clubs for the game of golf, the object being to provide a club in which the chance for error on the part of the player in driving, approaching, or putting is greatly reduced.

Golf-clubs as heretofore designed have been commonly made with the shaft of the head or part which delivers the impact-blow to the ball connected with said head at the extreme end of the same, so that a continuation of the rear line of the shank forms the heel of the club. This shape has probably a merely traditional origin from the fact that in theearly times a bent root was used to make the cl uh.

I have discovered, however, that a club designed on scientific principles having a view to the symmetrical distribution of the mass with which the impact-blow is delive ed admits of much greater accuracy in play. This results from a number of causes which tend to disconcert the accuracy of the player in the shape of tool ordinarily employed. The main body of the club-head being entirely forward of the shaft necessitates in the delivering of the blow a tense wrist to prevent swerving from theplane of impact during the preliminary motion sand swinging of the club, and

on engagement of the toe of the club'with the ball there is a strong tendency for the heel of the club toswing forward,particularly in the case ofa hard drive, which is acbetween the striking-face and the center of centuated by the torsional effect on the shaft at the moment of impact. All of these causes interfere with a true correspondence of delivery with respect to the players aim. In

a golf-club constructed according to in-.

vention, however, the shaft is connected to the head of the club at a point well forward of the heel and preferably at a point within the range of three-quarters of an inch from the center of gravity of the head. The axial center of the shaft is also located at a point mass. The point of intersection of the axial center of the shaftwith the center of gravity of the load will vary more or less according to the relative character of the materials used in making the handle and head and according to the inclination of the handle with respect to the sole of the club. A distinctive feature consists in providing a long strikingface, by which accurate alinement of the stroke may be easily attained, and the connection with the shaft in such a way that the major portion of the club mass is behind the shaftaxis. This arrangement contributes not only to accurate alinement by the eye,

but prevents tilting of the club-head while delivering the blow, as the point of application in the forward part of the head prevents any tendency toward unstable equilibrium while the blow is being made.

It is found by repeated trials on the part of skilled players that a club designed in accordance with my invention admits of much more accurate playing than the clubs ordinarily employed.

My invention therefore comprises a golfclub in which the center of the shaft is connected to the head forward of the center of mass in the direction of delivery of the blow and at a point between the heel and toe of the club-head.

It comprises also a head having a strikingface along its m'ajoraxis, with the shaft connection a" a point forward of the center of mass.

larly pointed out in the ciaims appended to this specification.

In the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate the invention, Figure 1 shows a plan view, partly in section, of a putter involving my improvements. Fig. 2 shows a front elevation of the head and part of the shaft of such a club. Fig. 3 is a sectional View on a plane indicated by the line X X of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the head and part of the shaft of a brassey or driver,

It will be seen that in all the types illustratedthe shaft 1 is connected with the head 2 of the club at a pcint where the entire body of the shank is we? forward of the position The novel features wiii be more particu- XCO to to render the c commonly adopted with respect to the heel and nearer the striking-face than the back of t e ben The heel 2 projects well behind here. sine of the shaft. inasmuch as the shaft inclines with respect to the sole of the club, thus necessitating a difference in posisition relatively to the true intersection of the axis with therenier of gravity of the mass of the head, the exact pointat which the shaft is located will vary. This will differ somewhat with ihe'sryle of delivery of the player and with other factors which doini unto his convenience in play; but in all cases iheaxisoi' the shai'tiniersecis the head within :rceriain range of distance from the center of gravity of the head and bet-ween the strikingface and the center of the mass.

As seen in the putter shown in Fig. 2, the shaft has an inclination of about twenty-five degrees, and the axial iinc of the shaftintersects about three-eighths of an inch to the rear of the center of mass of the head, or closer to the heel and closer to the strikingisce than the back of the head. As the shaft approaches a steeper angle it may he shifted forward. The position also will be altered somewhat -the distribution of weight in ihe head, as the center of mass does not coin side with c loadingnnd shc of symmetry, owing to rid othercauscs resorted .1, effective.

i The socket or sh: course be formed in a: with the head or may he made and attached in any elf the of the club may of l l i i l i familiar ways. In the type. shown in the drawings the shank is made in one piece with the head and the handle is fastened by a pin. It may of course be connected by splicing and winding with twine or in any other usual manner.

The usual material may be employed in the manufacture of clubs involving my invention; but I prefer to employ a head made, as to the clubs which are commonly made of iron, of aluminium or alloys thereof-for example, the putter, cleek, mid-iron, &c. The handle may he made of selected hickory.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A golf-club having the axis of the shaft intersecting the head at a point between the heel and toe and between the striking-face and the center.

2. A golficlnb head having a striking-face along its major axis and ashaft-socket intermediate the heel and toe and between the striking-face and the center of mass.

A golf-putter comprising an oblong head having a striking-face on the longer axis and a shaft mounted therein so that its axis lies between the heel and toe and between the striking-face and'center of mass.

in witnesswhereof I have hereunto set my hand. this th day of August, 19Q2.

ARTHUR F. KNlGl-ITJ W itncsses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, FRED Ross. 

